Patriots hope secondary is not primary concern again

The Patriots’ pass defense was one large "Yield" sign last year, beaten to the tune of nearly 300 yards per game during the regular season.

By Glen Farley/GateHouse News Service

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Glen Farley/GateHouse News Service

Posted Jul. 25, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 25, 2012 at 3:54 AM

By Glen Farley/GateHouse News Service

Posted Jul. 25, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 25, 2012 at 3:54 AM

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Talk about a free pass.

Opposing quarterbacks were often looking at one whenever they dropped back to pass in 2011.

The Patriots’ pass defense was one large "Yield" sign last year, beaten to the tune of nearly 300 yards per game during the regular season.

Its poster child?

That would be 2010 first-round draft choice Devin McCourty, who in a sophomore jinx of a season went from the Pro Bowl to a virtual no-show.

Following a late-season fling at safety, it appears as though the Rutgers University product is headed back to the corner in 2012.

Adding injury to insult, rookie cornerback Ras-I Dowling, who actually showed some encouraging signs early, lived down to his injury-plagued past; after starting the first two games of the season, the second-round draft pick from Virginia went on injured reserve with a hip injury that required surgery.

Had it not been for Kyle Arrington, a former scrap heap pickup who tied for the league lead in interceptions with seven, a dreadfully bad situation would have been even worse, if that’s possible.

And if Dowling showed some positive signs early in the season, in-season pickup Sterling Moore, who played on the corner and at safety, showed some flashes late.

The offseason brought free agent Will Allen, whose best days on the corner are in the rearview mirror (the former first-round pick turns 34 next month), and Nebraska’s Alfonzo Dennard, whose alleged bad behavior (he’s facing charges of assault on a police officer and resisting arrest) caused him to plummet to the seventh round of the draft.

The draft also brought Tavon Wilson of Illinois, a player whose versatility (safety, cornerback, special teams) prompted the Patriots to reach for him in the second round. If Wilson truly is a second-round talent, most of the league didn’t seem to know it.

After starting 31 games over the past four seasons for San Diego, free-agent pickup Steve Gregory could step into a starting role in New England where he would team up with fourth-year player (and third-year starter) Patrick Chung.

After following a path over three years with the New York Jets that suggested he’d be a special teams player for life, James Ihedigbo, re-signed for his second season in New England, may have something to say about all that, however. With 72 tackles, Ihedigbo ranked fifth on the Patriots defense last year.

Veteran Josh Barrett, who’s had his own injury issues, could also figure in the mix at safety. Barrett appeared in five games, starting the first four last year, before landing on IR for the second straight season, this time with a calf injury.